McConnell: Obama must stop 'stonewalling' on IRS scandal

Senate Minority Leader Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Obama hasn’t been forthcoming regarding IRS targeting of conservative groups and called on him to make available to Congress “everyone” with knowledge of the scandal.

“No more stonewalling, no more incomplete answers, no more misleading responses, no holding back witnesses, no matter how senior their current or former positions — we need full transparency and cooperation,” the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

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Mr. McConnell said the activities that the IRS has owned up to are an “outrage.”

“In the coming days we’ll learn more, … but, as I said, the fact is, none of this would have come out if we’d relied on the administration’s own word and Republicans hadn’t demanded the truth,” he said.

“In order for Congress to effectively perform the oversight it needs to do, the administration will have to make everyone who can answer these questions available — expeditiously.”

The Internal Revenue Service last week admitted that organizations applying for tax-exempt status during the 2012 election season were singled out for extra scrutiny if they had “tea party” or “patriot” in their titles. In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases.

The agency has apologized and said the practice was not politically motivated.

The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on the matter Friday.